Christian World | Pope Leo XIV told the Catholic University of Uruguay that people who listen see others as a blessing, not a threat, and urged putting people before algorithms

ACW | November 8, 2026 — Pope Leo XIV told educators at the Catholic University of Uruguay in Montevideo on Saturday that those who listen "recognize others as a blessing, not as a threat," according to the Vatican's official text.

Addressing professors, students and school administrators, the pope greeted Cardinal Daniel Sturla, the university's grand chancellor, and its rector, Father Julio Fernández Techera. He recalled that St. John Paul II visited the institution "a little over thirty-eight years ago," when it "was just getting started."

"Reducing the body to an 'object' to be disposed of arbitrarily is always a denial of the dignity of the person," the pope said. He described war as "the most terrible of 'human works'" produced by human hands.

"Discarding, rejecting and belittling others have become a foul odor to which our sense of smell has grown accustomed," he said. He called on Catholic schools to make "judicious use of technologies and AI, placing the person before the algorithm."

He closed by asking the education community to keep "evangelizing and contemplating the whole person." Quotes are from the Vatican's official English translation.

Background: Pope Leo began a 12-day trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on Nov. 6. Earlier on Saturday he met residents of Montevideo's Casavalle neighborhood.

Why it matters: In the speech, the pope rejected the discarding and belittling of others and said listening is how people come to see one another as a blessing, according to the Vatican's text; he delivered the message to one of South America's Catholic universities.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: The Holy See — Pope's address to the world of education at the Catholic University of Uruguay; Vatican News — Pope in Uruguay: 'Other people are a blessing, not a threat'

Photo: Vatican Media